BY COLLEEN PATTERSON

Whether you are new to the game of influencer marketing or new to the self-directed method of Muses, we’ve got your brand awareness back: your best method of pursuit, and how to measure your success.

One of the most common goals among businesses looking leverage influencers is brand awareness.

The Goal: Brand Awareness

The first step toward brand awareness is to get eyeballs on your brand: its name, its personality, and the product or service it offers. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for Business all provide their own set of analytics which track both impressions and reach. That’s your gauge for visibility.

What to Measure: Impressions, Reach, and Page Views

Which platform is best?

Your platform of choice is nothing more than an audience filter. If your industry’s audience is largely active on Facebook, go there. Find an influencer on Facebook (that’s your second filter) to help you gain access to that audience. Better yet, activate 500 influencers. Don’t cast a wide, unfiltered net. Target specific eyeballs.

How to Go-about: Features

In order for your content to achieve maximum brand awareness and catch-on through social media, it needs to be highly relevant to your audience.

Take the fashion industry, famously prolific in its embrace of influencer marketing:

XYZ brand discovers an Instagram user who has shouted-out her favorite carry bag. They make a feature of her on their business Instagram account and in return, ask her to feature their newest design. She gains exposure to the large XYZ following (interested in fashion and looking for examples of what a design looks like either worn, out-in-the-world, to scale, or paired with an outfit) while XYZ reaches her following (looking to her for style recommendations, ready to make a purchase).

In addition to exposure, cross-features often result in an increase in followers, which is a mark of social proof or credibility in the digital world.

That said, when you’re in the market for collaborations, find social accounts with a similar follower count. Follower count is a mark of reach and reach is a quantifiable/charge-able asset. If you’re working with little-to-no budget, a comparable follower count is an acceptable pro-bono swap.

Here’s another pro tip:

Features are not only great for gaining impressions and exposure. If your aim is web traffic and/or conversions: a purchase or newsletter signup, perhaps specify that you’d like your partner to include a Call-to-Action within the featured post to activate their audience.

Digital features will vary: a shoutout on Twitter, an interview shared through Facebook Notes, a portrait on Instagram. No matter how you choose to execute your feature, the end game is the natural cross-pollination of audiences.

There you have it. Get creative. For more inspiration and guidance on brand awareness campaigns, check out these posts: